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Paccar Ups Medium Duty Output in Quebec

Paccar has doubled output of medium-duty trucks at its Ste. Therese, Quebec plant to 20 units a day. The plant is now producing 10 units of Class 7-type medium-duty trucks each day for its Kenworth Truck Co. subsidiary and an additional 10 units for its Peterbilt Motors Co. unit. The company builds two variations of Class 7-type commercial trucks, the Kenworth K300 and Peterbilt 270 models.Peterbilt may ramp up production to as many as 100 units per day of Classes 5-7 medium-duty trucks once assembly of a new model begins this August, Production of a four-door "crew-cab" version of the Peterbilt 330 Model conventional is expected to begin August 2. The move will boost total output at the plant to 40 units of Peterbilt and Kenworth-branded trucks per day.Peterbilt unveiled the crew-cab trucks last week in Charlotte, NC. It will introduce Peterbilt 270-model medium-duty cab-over-engine trucks at the Mid-America Trucking Show inLouisville, KY., later this month. The 270-model trucks will replace Peterbilt's current 200-model trucks and will be assembled at the Ste. Therese plant.Paccar has reportedly has set a goal of capturing 10 percent of the Class 5-7 market, a level that would require output of 100 units per day.The Ste. Therese plant re-opened last September following an $80.0 million (Canadian) renovation and expansion project. It had been closed in 1996 in the wake of a bitter labor dispute.

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The facility is able to produce about 20,000 units yearly, but is expected to assemble medium-duty trucks at an annual rate of about 5,000 units until this August. The newly renovated facility has modern production technology, including supplier logistics partnerships and updated paint systems.Paccar phased out production of Class 7-type trucks at a plant in Seattle late last year following the opening of the Ste. Therese facility. It is the firm's only medium-duty truck plant in NorthAmerica.